Christmas Cookie Crust Cheesecakes

Something my family usually has at Christmas time is a tin of these Christmas cookies. Although I love them, John's not a huge fan... So, since we were given two tins this year, rather than eat them all myself and start a new year's resolution for the guilt (haha!) I decided to try to use them for something John does like. Or at least likes more than sugar cookies... Cheesecake.

(Here's Brookie trying to steal a cookie as I was taking the picture. Haha!)

First, I crushed up 20 cookies (that's half of one tin) in a blender. I added 4 Tablespoons of melted butter and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract and mixed it all together. After filling a mini cupcake tin with liners, I put 1 teaspoon of the crust mixture into each liner and pressed it down.

For the filling, I let an 8 oz package of cream cheese come to room temperature and beat it with a hand mixture until it was smooth. I then added 1/2 a cup of sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of cream cheese baking emulsion. (I've used this flavoring in my buttercream frosting and it is so good! I'm glad it worked well in cheesecake too! If you don't have it, however, you can substitute it with 1 tsp vanilla extract.) After mixing in 1 egg, I evenly distributed the filling mixture into the liners and baked the cheesecakes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 18 minutes (just until the edges were getting browned).

After they're cooled, add a small amount of pie filling to the top of each cheesecake. I used blueberry, but any type will work. They actually sunk a little bit as they cooled, but that way they would hold the topping better. (Silver lining. Haha!) I've heard that this can happen from mixing too much. I'm pretty sure this was my problem so I changed the directions for mixing the filling a little. Luckily, John's mom liked them so much that she asked me to make them for Kevin and Christine's wedding open house coming up. That'll give me a chance to try it again!

It was a great way to use some of our extra Christmas snacks in a different way. Now, if only we can find a use for our 7 popcorn tins... lol.